DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS? THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS? QUESTIONS (scroll down for answers) 1. How long will it take before I feel better? 2. What if my symptoms are just from ‘old age’? 3. How will you know what is wrong with me? 4. Do I have to continue treatment for a long time? 5. What is the long-term result of natural health care? 6. What if my symptoms are just stress related? 7. How are herbal, homeopathic and natural remedies better than drugs? 8. When are drugs necessary? 9. Can natural remedies be harmful? 10. Natural remedies didn’t work for me before. How do I know this treatment will work? 11. What if I am on prescription medication? 12. How come my M.D. doesn’t do these kinds of tests? ANSWERS 1. How long will it take before I feel better? Most people notice their health improving within a few days to weeks after starting their program. Your home program may consist of taking herbal, homeopathic, and/ or nutritional supplements, along with making changes in your diet, exercise regime, management of stress, and/ or manual treatment. Some people take longer to feel better, especially if there has been emotional and physical stress or a long-term condition. Patients who closely follow the treatment program invariably get well faster and can enjoy long-term results. 2. What if my symptoms are just from ‘old age’? For many people who are close to 45 years of age or older, more health symptoms crop up due to hormonal changes. Just because you get older, doesn’t mean that you need to become unhealthier. You can stabilize your health challenges before they affect your ability to work, your social life, and family life. Mid-life hormonal changes may cause weaknesses in the immune system, energy system, and organs and glands. Specific natural supplements that balance hormones and the immune system to correct imbalances and improve health, before it becomes a chronic condition or disease 3. How will you know what is wrong with me? Since 1985, we have researched the most reliable testing methods available. Information about your body's functioning is obtained through refined questionnaires, Specialized Lab Testing, state-of-the art electro-dermal testing of acupuncture points to find organ and gland weaknesses. Your diagnosis and treatment will be based on the most current alternative medical knowledge backed by scientific data with predictable outcomes. 4. Do I have to continue treatment for a long period of time? After your examination and the lab testing are complete, you will be given an estimate of the length and extent of the treatment program. A severe condition or illness may require treatment over a period of months. For acute or less challenging conditions, it may take only 1 or 2 consultations/treatments. Since each treatment program is individually assessed, we will discuss the options before you begin treatment. 5. What is the long-term goal of natural health care? The long-term goal of natural health care is to correct minor health problems before they become a disease or long-term condition. Nothing is worse than growing older with lots of health challenges. 6. What if my symptoms are just stress related? Anything that causes stress on your system is called a ‘toxic load’. Many things can cause a toxic load on your body. For example: strong emotions, bacteria, viruses, parasites, heavy metal or chemical exposure, allergies, hormone imbalances, pain and inflammation, lack of rest, eating the wrong foods or lack of specific nutrients, lack of exercise or inappropriate exercise. Things that cause a toxic load on your system will cause your energy and immune system to weaken. When the immune system is weakened, fatigue or inflammation (pain) may be the result. The body has little or no way to defend itself against outside intruders (e.g. bacteria). You may notice one or two symptoms at first. Later more symptoms may surface. Sometimes your body may be weakened and you may be unaware of any symptoms. The first step is to find out what is causing the problem, and then start the appropriate treatment program. 7. How are herbal, homeopathic, and natural remedies better than drugs? Herbs, homeopathic, and natural supplements aren’t necessarily better than drugs. They are different in that they help rejuvenate your own body's ability to heal. For example: when your body becomes weakened due to chronic emotional and physical stress, symptoms may increase due to the body’s weakened immune system. You may have an increase in allergies and take an antihistamine to relieve the symptoms. A drug can help to suppress the symptoms of congestion, sneezing, and fatigue almost immediately. But when the drug wears off, the symptoms will return. The drug, in general, will not help the body build up the immune system’s resources to heal. A drug may alleviate the symptoms faster, but the long-term effect is suppression of the symptom, rather than healing the underlying cause of the problem. 8. When are drugs necessary? On occasion it is necessary to take pharmaceutical drugs to correct life-threatening health issues. Most, health issues can be helped without pharmaceutical drugs. If you are already on prescription drugs, then we do not recommend getting off the drugs, unless the M.D. who prescribed agrees. It is important to be aware that when you ingest any drug your liver works harder to detoxify the chemicals from the drug, and there can be side-effects. Over time, this process can weaken the liver function. If a drug is needed, such as antibiotics, we work with you and your M.D. to provide supplemental support after finishing the prescription drug so that any negative side-effects can be alleviated. Excellent alternative to drugs are homeopathics, herbal,and nutrient supplements. They can be use for most conditions, when drugs are not essential. 9. Can natural remedies be harmful? In general, homeopathics and other natural supplements, when used properly, will not cause negative side effects. They will help relieve symptoms and correct the underlying cause of the problem. There are however, a few natural products that may be contraindicated for some people. For example, a person who has high blood pressure would not want to take herbal licorice because it may be detrimental for this condition. These contraindications are common knowledge for a well-trained practitioner of natural medicine. 10. Natural remedies didn’t work for me before. How do I know this treatment will work? When natural remedies don’t work, there could be a number of reasons: 1) It was the wrong remedy. 2) It wasn’t taken long enough. 3) It wasn’t taken according to the correct protocol. 4) It was taken at the wrong time of day or in the wrong order for the treatment. 5) It wasn’t potent enough. 6) It was not addressing the underlying problem, which is most often the case when natural remedies do not work. Specialized Testing and Interpretation helps us to choose natural remedies that will work for you. We choose only the highest quality, most potent biological remedies (homeopathics, nutrients, and herbs) available from around the world. 11. What if I am on prescription medication? If you are currently on medications prescribed by your M.D., please stay on them. Most of our patients are able to eventually reduce or discontinue their dosage of some or most medications when their body begins to heal (with their M.D.’s approval). You will need to check with your doctor before changing or discontinuing any prescription medication. 12. How come my M.D. doesn’t do these kinds of tests? Traditional medicine primarily treats symptoms. If symptoms are not present or very minor, treatment will usually not be provided. If it is provided, it will generally be in the form of relief care utilizing a drug to suppress the symptoms. In most cases, we utilize Specialized Lab Tests before many symptoms are evident. This type of testing allows us to look beyond the symptoms, or lack of symptoms, to find out how the cells, tissues, and organs are responding to stress. This is quite different from the traditional medical protocol. Interpreting these tests requires special training. There are a few M.D.’s who are trained in the system and interpretation of the Specialized Tests.